GTECHNIQ CERAMIC COATING

Technical Area Cleaning & Detailing
2

My Mk4 ND GT Sport Nav+ has just been ceramic coated after an enhanced detailing.  This was done in a dust-free environment.  I have no connection with the company, just a happy customer.

This is what was done . . . 

Enhancement Detail

This detail is designed to make a dramatic and lasting improvement to the gloss and shine of poorly maintained paint. Using a single stage paint correction process, fine swirl marks that cause dullness and haze and ultimately rob the paint of its clarity are removed.  

Although a single stage polish is often not enough to remove all the swirl marks in the paint, it does make a dramatic improvement to the paint over and above the Protection Detail by actually removing the finer swirl marks, light oxidisation and haze that rob the paint of its clarity. Under close inspection in showroom conditions, deeper marks may remain visible, but in most other lighting conditions, the improvement this detail gives makes it a popular choice for cars that live outside or where cost is an issue and total paint perfection is not required.

  • WASH - Wheels, arches and paintwork are safely washed with acid free and pH neutral chemicals. The engine bay, door and boot shuts and other crevices and grills are all given special attention to ensure that months or even years of grime are effectively dealt with.

  • DECONTAMINATE - All exterior surfaces are decontaminated both chemically and mechanically using various tar and iron dissolving chemicals and a clay bar.

  • PAINT CORRECTION - All painted surfaces are given a single stage machine polish to improve surface gloss by removing fine swirls, haze or oxidisation.

  • PROTECT - Gtechniq C2 is applied to all painted surfaces giving 3-6 months water and dirt repellency. Gtechniq C2 is applied to the wheels and G5 to the exterior of the glass.

  • FINESSE - To finish off the job the arches, engine bay, tyres and other external plastics are dressed / protected, the interior vacuumed and dusted and the internal glass cleaned.

Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra

Crystal Serum Ultra - 9 year guarantee - annual free check
Serum Ultra, an ultra hard ceramic coating with a 10h top layer and 7h base layer providing excellent swirl and chemical resistance from pH2 - pH13. 

Exo V4 - 316827 Fabric hood protection

Coating with Gtechniq I1 Smart Fabric AB provides long lasting protection, encasing the soft top fibres in an anti microbial water and dirt repelling coating. Even just to have the satisfaction of watching water pearl off your soft-top, this treatment is worth it. The water and stain repellent effect lasts for around a year.

PLUS

Additional Glass Protection
Additional Wheel Protection
Interior Protection of the leather and carpets

 

Instructions for ongoing care were also provided . . . 

QUOTE

The main thing to remember is to avoid polishing the car. Polishing will drastically shorten the life of the sealant or at worse, remove it all together. With regular washing there will be no need to polish the car for a good few years.

Wheels

I use Autoglym Specialist Wheel Cleaner with various brushes. Although I’ve linked the small bottle below (which in this form is called custom wheel cleaner for some reason but it’s the same product), it’s much cheaper to buy in 5 litre trade form from eBay or similar and buy a sprayer bottle yourself. You can spray this cleaner over the tyres, wheels and arch liners. Its great at cleaning the tyres from old dressings and road grime and won’t tarnish the brake components. Work on one wheel at a time and don’t let it dry out. Pressure rinse once you’ve agitated it all with a brush.

Autoglym Specialist Wheel Cleaner www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/wheels-and-tyres/autoglym-custom-wheel-cleaner-kit/prod_922.html
Brush for inside the wheel www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/wheels-and-tyres/ez-detail-brush/prod_480.html
Brush for wheel face and wheel arch www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/wheels-and-tyres/vikan-multi-brush-rim-cleaner-soft/prod_390.html

Pre Wash

If you have a pressure washer with a foam attachment you could use this or you could get an attachment for a hose or just a pump up pressurised sprayer (from homebase or b&q etc). Foam tends to work a bit better as it dwells on the car for longer. For regular use a pH neutral solution is fine. In the winter I sometimes mix it a bit stronger and you can pre wash the car twice if it needs it. In hot weather work on 2-3 panels at a time or in damp cooler weather you can cover the whole car and then rinse off after a few minutes. Either way your trying to get the cleaner to be on the car for as long as possible without drying out. Use the pressure washer about 1-2 ft away from the car and work slowly. Your trying to get the dirt off… not just rinse the foam off the car. Work from the bottom of the car to the top when you pressure rinse and you will avoid dirt streaking marks.

Foam attachment for pressure washer www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-and-drying/snow-foam-lance-various-fittings/prod_371.html
Foam attachment for a hose www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-and-drying/cleanyourcar-foam-cannon/prod_1349.html
Regular use snow foam www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-and-drying/foam-pre-wash/gtechniq-w4-citrus-snow-foam-1-litre/prod_1547.html
Stronger detergent for winter use or very dirty cars www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-and-drying/car-wash-shampoos/meguiars-hyper-wash/prod_326.html

Shampoo

Once the pre wash is complete you can shampoo the car. Two buckets is the best way. One as a bucket to rinse your wash mitt and one with shampoo. Pick up the shampoo with the mitt, wash the section of car, put the mitt in the rinse bucket and agitate it a bit to get any loose dirt off, then pick up more shampoo and repeat the process. Wash mitt is personal choice, just keep them clean. I usually machine wash them after every couple of uses. Rinse the shampoo off and don’t let it dry on the car

Bucket and grit guard www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-and-drying/meguiars-grit-guard-and-bucket/prod_232.html
Wash mitt www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-and-drying/wash-mitts-sponges/gtechniq-wm2-microfibre-wash-mitt/prod_1582.html
Shampoo www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-and-drying/car-wash-shampoos/gyeon-q2m-bathe-plus/prod_1620.html 
(this shampoo is brilliant and gives a great top up to the coating but make sure it doesn’t dry on the car so if its a warmer day then just do a couple of panels and rinse.)

Rinse and Dry

Once the shampoo is rinsed off you could just dry the car with a couple of good drying towels and you can use a few spritz’s of Quick w ash to buff any water spots away (although this is less important when using the Gyeon Bathe+ shampoo). Once dry you can then give the glass a buff with some dedicated glass cleaner if you wish and also apply dressings to the tyres. I usually spray this onto a foam pad and then wipe onto the tyre.

Gtechniq QD www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/detailing-sprays/gtechniq-quick-wash/prod_1486.html
CarPro PERL for tyres and plastics www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/engine-and-exterior/carpro-perl-coat-protectant/prod_932.html
Drying towel www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-and-drying/drying-towels/dodo-juice-soft-touch-premium-drying-towel/prod_947.html
Spray bottle www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/accessories/600ml-plastic-bottle-with-sprayer/prod_178.html
Foam pad www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/accessories/foam-wax-applicator/prod_89.html
Microfibre cloths www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/microfibre-cloths/multi-purpose-polishing-cloths/eurow-microfibre-work-towels-pkg/36/prod_1492.html

UNQUOTE

Contact details for Ceramic Coating . . . 

Cambridge Autogleam
c/o Autostore, Orchard Farm
Fowlmere Road, Foxton
CB22 6TA

www.cambridgeautogleam.com

Nathan
07710 494878
info@cambridgeautogleam.com

3

Thank you for taking the trouble to write this most informative post, would it be rude to ask you what sort of cost we are talking about for this process?

4

 - not cheap, as you can see from the website. 

However, I balanced it against the cost of the car and this was approx 5%, so just over £1,000

I also looked at the thickness and quality of the Mazda paint (very thin!) and the fact this car will be a “keeper” and all I have to do to look after it is to wash it and keep it clean; no polishing and the paint coating has a 9 year guarantee.  As I said, not cheap, but giving the car a better chance of helping to keep her looks for a good few years with a simple weekly foam and wash.

5

Money well spent I say

6

Now get the underneath properly protected!

7

Yep - here is where I am planning to go next . . .

QUOTE APPROX £500

Many thanks for your enquiry using Rustbuster’s award winning Hot-fog Rust proofing method. Our unique rust proofing service is very popular if you want specific days please book well in advance. On contact we will make a booking for you for a specific day the vehicle will be ready for collection the following day, under certain circumstances we can complete your vehicle the same day depending on the condition it arrives in.

The Rustbuster Hot Fog Process

Please feel free to compare our services offered with others out there and ask them if they will do all of the following for you, Good products with bad prep equals failure.

High pressure Mossmatic cleaning using Chlor-X salt remover and traffic film remover.

Infra-red and air blast drying.

Remove road wheels and masking of brakes and hubs.

Removal of any plastic inner arch guards. We do not remove painted plastic arch returns and skirts that form part of the bodywork. We do try to remove the plastic rivets carefully to re-use them, any replaced fixings are billed to the customer.

Removal of any loose rust and old loose coatings.

Inspection of chassis/sub frames sills etc. For corrosion and rot. Any rot discovered requiring welding will be reported back to the customer prior to repairs being carried out. Pictures can be provided on a USB stick (£5 + vat).

Surface rust is treated with Rustbuster FE-123 molecular rust converter.

Vehicle bodywork is masked in vinyl electrostatic wrap before spraying.

Cavities injected using a unique Canadian high-pressure air mix Fogging method with Rustbuster Corrolan Active cavity wax.

Cavities includes; Chassis, sills, cross members, sub frames door bottoms, A, B and C pillars, bonnet and boot seams or hatch. Some areas are accessed directly with wet spray others are accessed via fogging the wax, e.g. door tops and lock mechanisms would receive a fog whereas the door bottom and seams get a full wet coating. Tops of pillars are fogged etc.

Under body coated with Rustbuster Techshield High Performance Black under body wax with added RUSTOL additive.

Plastic Arch guards and wheels replaced.

On completion you will be given a certificate of completion, and a visitor’s card for annual inspections.

FREE TOUCH UP KIT All vehicles that are released from Rustbuster either fully or partially rust proofed will receive a Rust Proofing Touch up kit worth £20 + vat absolutely Free of charge. This will allow you to touch any repairs to the rust proofing disturbed or scraped when replacing tyres exhaust etc.

Optional Rustbuster after care

Within 13 months of your rust proofing anniversary make an appointment to call into Rustbuster for an inspection and touch up of under body wax for the sum of £50 + vat. This can be repeated every year until from this point onwards we will touch up your rust proofing from the sum of £50 + vat (£60) any years missed automatically takes you out of the annual £60 per year offer. You will be given a card on collection to mark the annual date.

Rustbuster Ltd
Unit 2 Welland House
Cradge Bank
Spalding
South Lincolnshire
PE11 3AN